Mount Pleasant Country Club is now a 'Haven'

Thursday

Jul 17, 2014 at 6:00 AM

By Joni Koogler BANNER CORRESPONDENT

BOYLSTON — Changes at the former Mount Pleasant Country Club in Boylston have been ongoing for about a year, and according to Club General Manager Brian Lynch, those changes are almost complete to what is now known as The Haven Country Club.

"We're about a month behind schedule, but we're hopeful that work will be about wrapped up by the end of this month," Lynch said. "We've renovated with a major investment into all the facilities here, and everything's looking really good."

The Haven was founded in 1927 as Mount Pleasant Country Club in Leicester. It moved to Boylston in 1956. Mount Pleasant was owned by its members, but according to Lynch, "About 2008 or 2009, with financial times what they were, members felt the club would be better served if it were privately owned, rather than member owned."

Mount Pleasant Country Club was sold to longtime Club member Regan Remillard, of Boylston and Boston, on Jan. 1, 2012.

"Mr. Remillard was one of our own members, and he had vision to do great things here," Lynch said.

Since 2012, the club has acquired 155 new members, and total membership now stands at 280 members.

"We've seen a dramatic increase in membership since Mr. Remillard bought the Club in 2012," Lynch said. "We've retained nearly all our members, except for the ones (who) retired and moved to Florida and other places."

The club's new name was born from member ideas, according to Lynch.

"Members came up with the idea for 'The Haven' name," Lynch said. "We asked them for ideas, and so many of them said, 'it's a place to get away from everything and relax.' Several of them actually did say it was a haven, so we thought the name was perfect."

Lynch said a new name was necessary to avoid confusion with the Mount Pleasant Golf Club in Lowell and Pleasant Valley Country Club in Sutton.

Among other upgrades, improvements at the club have included work on the cabana building at the pool.

"The cabana building is new and improved, it's been completely renovated," Lynch said.

The parking lot has also seen significant upgrades.

"We raised the parking lot and lowered the front entrance area to the club to make it more attractive," Lynch said.

"The best thing about all that work is that we were able to keep all materials on-site. The stone and ledge we blasted out of the entrance area was used as a base under the parking lot. Everything was really done the right way," he said.

Lynch lauded project work done by Lamoureux, Pagano and Associates architects and Brassard Design and Engineering, both companies from Worcester.

"The architects were fantastic, and Matt Brassard of Brassard Engineering did engineering for the parking lot, too. Thompson-Liston Associates, an engineering company from Boylston, also helped with the project," Lynch said.

"The parking lot is bigger, newly resurfaced, and there are four beautiful new lights at the mouth of the lot, and two new lights across the lot on the other side, he said.

And parking lot lighting isn't all that's new.

"We've also got new tennis court fencing, a new putting green and a brand new snack shack for members," Lynch said.

Lynch also credited the contributions of one particular Boylston resident in the renovations at The Haven.

"Todd Sauer is superintendent of the golf course, and he has worked so hard, done so much to help oversee the work being done here," Lynch said.

While the general manager is praising the recent work at the country club, employees are praising The Haven's atmosphere.

"I love it here," said valet parking attendant Derek Ryan, of Shrewsbury. "Everyone is so welcoming to work with. The management, the waiters, everybody. It's a great place."

Chris Marden, another valet, agreed.

"I'm going on my third year here," Marden said. "It's really on the rise. The club is becoming more prestigious. I really enjoy coming to work every day."

While polo shirts and khakis make comfortable uniforms, according to Marden, Ryan and another employee Dan Lynch, they all noted they did not mind the special attire for occasions, like Mothers' Day and Fathers' Day: tuxedoes.

Cathy Morin, a full-time server at the club who hails from Clinton, said The Haven is a great place to work.

"I started four years ago when this was Mount Pleasant," Morin said. "The work is so rewarding. The members are just wonderful people. I can't say enough about it. It really is a haven."